Shrouded wheel



May 26, 1953 A. TowNl-nLL l-:TAL 2,639,886

SHROUDED WHEEL Filed Nov. 17, 1950 fnl/'Enfrs Patented May 26, 1953signorseto'llhompscn Products; Inc., Eleveland,

Ohioaafcorporationiof Ohio Application december 17, 195o, serial no..1916@231;

iclaim. (crass-ess) lfhisiinventon relates; ie rim' ,Shredded Wheelssuch as vaned wheels.

Speeileelly :the inventidmdeals AWl'fh the nredneiien of a rimbendeneireled veiled Wheel, 5.1.1911

este terqueeonvertererduid y@dealer Whereingthe encircling-band is castaround theyanesand permanently efxed therewithhrdush reieetions Qnthevaneswhiehare embeddedin'. the :bend nesting.

lnaeeerdenee withthe preferred.. embediment Qtthisirwenticn,ezhublaridvane unitisde @est linden pressure; tn. preduee, a-memberjhaving .e central huh portent/.ith ereumferenteilly ASie aeed.venes radiating outwardly therefrom mrIldeee 'vanesheve projettent 9.11.theirveedter ends Tbe :die .eastinaean .be made. exceptionallyYemeetll; py lowing., themetalsintd the. 'permanent .de-meld under.relatively high ,pressures z'ilhei hub" and rane unit. is; thensurrounded alunni-Settled ,colleir'hayine recesses for reeeyllethe peeticns, en tlle varies rhe.. enehsedspaee eentainnerthe hub ...d vane..isithenilled with 4matenal, :thetvill iena a; ...exigible orezsueh,amend onether. ldinematerielvhe cere ,materiel cemnletelxfsuirelndstheentirehub and vaneunit ,withlithe exception ,of ,the projections.ee'lle-ris,..th.en iemevedfrempthe.resulting :cofre and; thenroieetiorlswill; be exposed around .thererinhery .o-fthaccre. lhe c9-1e s.,therr',11- vested in amold, preferably akperniapentgngld, having a cavitycoacting with the core to provide an annular rrim)cliamber containingthe DIOjeC- tions. :Metaleisthenroastyintonthis chamber to produce a rimshroud around the outer ends of the-vanes, andy having! the,projectionstembedded therein. The resulting-rim'ehreudedyaned wheel isstrong, efficient, and rigid. Since the vanes and hub formed bydieatine,nihue 9p- ,leiations to pro duce smoothvane surfaces,areA re- :ducedtoaminmum. 'Iljlecast on rimer shroud ,shrinks across its diametermwhdencooledl` and ,tightly embraces the vanestoprovide.,a1-hopp stretching:effect on vthe assembly.

it isa-them an object oftthisinventieatetpreduce a rim shrouded vanedWheel having the rim shroud thereof cast around the vanes andpermanently afxed therewith by projections on the vanes which areembedded therein.

Another obj ect of this invention is to provide a vaned Wheel with ashroud therearound that is cast separately from the vanes and shrinks toproduce a hoop stretching effect which rigidies and strengthens theassembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide vaned Wheels for torqueconverters and fluid couplers'whereinjhub vaneunitsare diecast byvordinary `die casting technique and are equipped with shroudssurrounding thevanes by casting technique Vwhich jdoes not require Athe*use yGijinvestment molds, plaster, or heretofore-required egg-pensivecasting operations.

A still further vcbjectrcithegvinventicnis Ytoeprovide a torquel`converter :wheel -vof `Yinelproved strength having a centralunitcomposed of-ea hub with crcumferentially spacedvanesradiatdie.,outwardly 'ihererdm ende eeeenddnit eamprie ev e.` rim bar-.1dasteetedndfiheevanee1and permanently `aitied thereto by proj ectionsonthe vanes which' are embedded therein.

@ther andifurther obj ectsofetheI inventionwill .be,..epperent teithese. edtled inetheertefrem the .following 'detailed ideserntion :df--the .annexed Sheetef drawings iwhidll: by wey Aef e preferred ,eaample991m "illustrates erle-embddimgenteffthe invention Qn4 the drawms;,Figure-1 is asian viewiwih apartbfokend-Wdy and shown 3 in:.hdltizentel; Section, "ef a ri-'m .Shredded Wheeleeedlfdidgzidthis"invention.

s Eigure isa 'side elevational v iew withapart .breken aualyeendshe-.Wninvertieal ,Sectienie yi1- lustrate an underlying part, l.ofA theWheelpf Eigure 1.

,l lfiginte,Sv is; a vertical cross-sectional -l view of egliubiand varlepilnitiiwurited en lafeeresuin- ,pertinapleteendeildirdledby.amulti-Sestieled drsal ,eelergin.,pieperatien "i012 `the eereEieuiedis-`a1plen view Qf. @meld-harmed .-ecre produced eeeerdins i'Figure' 3mm-med ,inline .meld veal/ity' theredfpour platemounted"'on"top of-the nfiold.

liiginte` is. .e ,iragmentdry-seetienalYiew taken V:es Shown @the es:frlriyigulvee. Lead, er'reiereneetluineral 1w designates generally a rimshrouded vaned Wheel composed of a hub and vane unit I I and anencircling cylindrical rim shroud I2. The unit II has a cylindrical hubI3 with an inwardly extending annular flange I4 intermediate the top andbottom thereof. A plurality of vanes I5 project outwardly from the hubI3 in circumferentially spaced relation about the periphery of the hub.These vanes may have a complicated foil contour and may be pitched alongtheir length so as to produce configurations Which 3 could not be castinside of an encircling shroud such as I2 without requiring the use ofexpensive plaster molding technique.

The vanes I5 have outer edges I6 of segmental circular contoursubstantially concentric with the hub I3. Lug-like projections I1 extendoutwardly from the central portions of these edges I6. These projectionsI1 are embedded in the rim band or shroud I2 and the band tightlyernbraces the edges I6 of each of the vanes.

The wheel I0 has spaces I8 between the vanes I5, the inner hub I3, andthe outer rim I2. Because of the complicated contour of the vanes I6,these spaces I8 cannot be filled with sand in ordinary casting techniqueand it has therefore been heretofore necessary to use plaster molds toform the Wheels I0. These plaster molds are only adapted for singleusage.

As shown in Figure 3, the vane and hub unit II of the wheel I0 ismounted on a flat plate I9 having an upstanding post with a handle 26aon the upper end thereof projecting through the space inside of theflange I4.

A multi-sectioned cylindrical collar 2I surrounds the unit II. Thesections of the collar are held together by an encircling clamping band22, so that the sections will be firmly pressed against the edges I5 ofthe vanes I5. The sections have recesses 23 shaped for snugly receivingthe projections I1.I These recesses 23 can be open through the outerface of the collar 2I.

vThe assembly of Figure 3 provides a fixture containing the unit IIwhich, as explained above, has been produced by a die casting operationusing metal under relatively high pressure to provide smooth surfaceseliminating the necessity for appreciable finishing operations. Thisfixture is then placed in a core blowing machine and the spaces I8between the vanes I5 are completely lled with core forming material suchas sand. A pneumatic sand feed in the core blowing machine will insurecomplete filling of the spaces I8. The sand is packed sufficiently so asto provide a self-sustaining core 24 completely embedding the unit IIbetween the hub I 4 and the collar 2I. The band 22 is then removed fromthe collar 2I and the sections of the collar are carefully pulled oi ofthe core 24 and off of the projections I1.

The resulting core 24, as shown in Figure 4, is lowered into a mold 25having a cylindrical mold cavity 26. The plate I9 is used to support thefrangible core material and to center the core 24 in the cavity 26 withthe projections I1 extending outwardly from the core across the moldcavity 26. This final mold cavity is annular, being bounded by the mold25 around its outer periphery, the core 24 around its inner periphery,and the support plate I9 around its bottom. The projections I1 extendacross this annular space.

As shown in Figure 5, a pouring cover 21 is mounted on top of the mold25 to provide a top wall for the annular mold cavity. This cover 21 hasa gate hole 28 communicating with the CFI cavity 26 so that molten metalcan be readily poured into the cavity to completely ll the same andembed the projections I1 therein. After the pouring step, the moltenmetal is chilled to form the rim I2 of the Wheel ID and the resultingcasting is readily removed from the mold 25 by removing the-cover plate2-1 and by lifting the support plate to carry the unit out ofthe mold25. The core material being frangible, is readily broken out of thespaces I8 of the casting.

The rim I2 shrinks on cooling to tightly embrace the edges of the vanesand to tightly embed the projections I1 therein. As shown in Figure 6,each projection I1 is completely embraced by the cast metal of the rimI2 and is rmly embedded therein.

From the above descriptions it will therefore be understood that thisinvention provides an inexpensive rim shrouded varied Wheel especiallysuitable in production of torque converter and fluid coupling parts. Theinvention also provides a vaned wheel of improved rigidity and strength.v

`It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedWithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

We claim as our invention:

A rim shrouded vaned fluid propelling wheel comprising a one-pieceintegrally constructed unit, said unit havingI an upstanding annular hubportion, a plurality of circumferentially spaced vanes radiatingoutwardly from the outer periphery 'of said hub portion, each of saidvaneshaving opposed faces dening an air foil section for propelling afluid between said blades, each of said blades having an arcuate outerperipheral edge between said opposed faces of the blade concentric withsaid upstanding hub portion, a lug-like projection extending outwardlyfrom each of said outer peripheral edges and having the general contourof the air foil section and an inwardly directed annular flange on theinner periphery of said upstanding hub, and a one-piece rim surroundingsaid vanes in tight embracing contact with said arcuate outeryperipheral edges of the vanes and receiving all of said projections insnug embedded relation therein, said rim being in tension around saidunit to exert an inwardly directed force rigidifying the assembly.

ARTHUR TOWNHILL. WALLACE PHILP HOLCOMBE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Re. 5,364 yMontgomery Apr. 22, 1873 1,470,505 Steenstrup Oct.9, 1923 2,136,447 Le Jeune Nov. 15, 1938 2,143,464 Allard Jan. 10, 19392,304,721 Werther Dec. 8, 1942 2,432,315 vHoward Dec. 9, 1947 '2,479,039Cronstedt Aug. 16, 1949

